LOWELLJ. GEORGIA(OPPOSITE);EDWINWOLFF,NCAR(ABOVE)
Scouts of the stratosphere,
balloons take on helium at Pales
tine, Texas. Small pilot balloons
will detect low-level winds that
could disrupt the launch.
Able to drift for hours in the
no-man's-land 80,000 to 135,000
feet up-too high for aircraft and
too low for satellites-the bal
loons' instruments, parachuted to
earth, yield data on the chemistry
of the stratosphere. Thus scien
tists extend their reach ever
farther into earth's ocean of air.
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